Chapter 7 #2
“Don’t,” he growled, closing the distance until he practically crowded me.
Any other wolf might have backed off under that kind of pressure. Cassian was larger, stronger, and currently vibrating with barely leashed tension. But he was my twin. He’d never hurt me.
“Don’t do what?” I asked, fluttering my lashes in mock innocence.
His shoulders sagged as he released a slow, bone-weary sigh. “Don’t lie to me. We don’t do that.”
Okay, that made me wince. Because he was right.
Growing up, our parents used to joke that we were one mind, two bodies.
More than once, I’d suspected they’d meant we shared one brain cell between the two of us.
But we never cared about the jokes. We simply smiled at each other, because we knew better.
And he was right. We never lied to each other.
“You’ve been avoiding us. Avoiding me,” he said quietly.
“I’ve been avoiding everyone,” I corrected. “Not just you.” I reached for the rag again and started wiping the already spotless counter. “I just… needed space.”
“You could’ve said that,” Cassian replied.
“Would you have listened?”
His mouth opened, ready to argue, but I lifted a brow and held his gaze. “You literally just said no lies.”
He huffed, color creeping into his cheeks. “Fine. No. Probably not.”
“Exactly.”
I tossed the rag into the sink and grabbed the broom instead, pushing it across the floor in slow, repetitive strokes. I’d already swept this place more times than I could count, but that wasn’t the point. The movement helped ground me.
“I would have thought my lack of response would have clued you in.”
“Theodora,” Cassian breathed, clearly exasperated with me.
Ricky and Felix both clucked their tongues, as though they knew my dear twin had made a grave error. If it was any other day, yes, I would have bitten the head off anyone who dared use my full name. Today, that just sounded exhausting. So, I let it go.
Cassian scrubbed a hand down his face and took the stool beside Felix, slumping forward with his elbows braced on the counter. The sight of it hit me harder than any raised voice. He looked tired. Worn thin.
We might share one brain cell, but we also shared something deeper. Emotions echoed between us whether we liked it or not. Twin bonds were like that—deeply inconvenient and impossible to escape.
“If you’d answered my texts,” he said, voice lower now, “I would’ve warned you that Calder stopped by my place yesterday morning.”
My hand instantly tensed, and the broom bent with a metallic creak.
I didn’t say a word, but I didn’t need to. My doting brothers could smell my emotions.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t kill him,” Cassian said.
“Pity,” Ricky chimed in.
The two shared a masculine laugh.
“What did he want?” I asked, my voice thin despite my best efforts.
Cassian’s gaze cut toward me. “What do you think? He saw your scars. Now he wants answers.”
Agitation prickled my skin.
“And did you?” I asked carefully. “Tell him?”
“Of course not,” Cassian snapped. “You know me better than that.”
Relief had me releasing the broom, but I’d mangled the poor thing beyond repair. Whistling under his breath, Ricky strode toward me and took the abused cleaning tool from my hands, then set it against the bartop. “Might be time to retire that one.”
Cassian straightened, expression grim. “Look, I know things haven’t been easy lately. And Calder being back… complicates things.”
I choked out a laugh.
“But we aren’t the only ones who know what happened to you,” Cassian continued. “Word spread. The whole town knows. Eventually, he’s going to hear it from someone.”
“Yeah,” I said flatly. “This place thrives on gossip.”
Felix cleared his throat. “Maybe it’d be better if it came from you? Before someone else tells him first.”
My hackles rose instantly. “No.” Anger flared hot and fast, flushing my skin.
“Fuck the town. And fuck anyone who thinks they know what happened to me.” I swallowed hard, pushing past the tightness in my chest. “I’m done walking on eggshells.
If Calder wants answers, that’s his problem.
I owe him nothing. He’s not part of my life anymore, and I am not reopening old wounds for his peace of mind. ”
My brothers didn’t say a word, but all three watched me with that look in their eyes I’d come to hate.
Pity.
The sight of it set my blood boiling. Tears pricked my eyes, because damn it, I always cried when mad. It was an infuriating reflex I’d never managed to outgrow.
“Thorne—” Cassian began.
“No,” I cut in. “I’m done talking about this.”
“I know you are, but—”
“I’m going for a run,” I butt in again. Because screw it. I needed to stretch my legs, and my wolf needed out. It’d been weeks since I’d last shifted, and I felt it now. That desire to let her free and just run as far away from all this as I could.
Between one breath and the next, I let go.
Shifting wasn’t like the movies. There was no shirt-ripping, bone-breaking, skin-tearing, muscle-splitting drama.
And there certainly were no screams that turned into a howl at the last second.
That was Hollywood shit, made to sell movies.
In real life, shifting was more spiritual than that.
It was a means of freeing our other half, attuning ourselves to nature, and letting our true selves run free.
When next I blinked, I stood on four paws.
I hurried across the bar and butted the door open with my shoulder. Warm afternoon air rushed in, and for a brief moment, I closed my eyes and bathed in the sunlight.
“Thorne—” Cassian called.
But I was already gone.
I hit the cobblestone sprinting, and I disappeared down the street before the door could slam shut behind me.